OTTAWA -- "Hi, I'm Andrew," the leader of the Conservative Party's most recent campaign ad begins. It's an introduction of Andrew Scheer to the Canadian public after taking the helm of the Official Opposition in May.

Scheer has been viewed as a relatively unknown political figure, despite having been the Speaker of the House of Commons during the last government, and a federal MP for 13 years.

It was this year that Canadians wanted to get to know him, or started to wonder who he was, according to Google’s Year in Search results for 2017.

The results were informed by Google Trends and analysis of Canadian online searches through 2017.

Andrew Scheer was the top trending political figure in Canada. The top trending category looks at the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2017 as compared to the year before.

The results of searches up to Dec. 4 show that in both political categories, Canadians showed curiosity about new faces on the political scene, and had questions about what was happening with our American neighbours.

The top 5 trending Canadian political figures:

1. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer: Scheer and the election of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh were both "seismic moments in federal politics," said Google Canada’s Year in Search spokesperson Alexandra Hunnings Klein. Since becoming the Official Opposition leader, Scheer has faced off against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons on a number of issues, and personally called for Finance Minister Bill Morneau to resign. Among the Scheer searches? Questions about how many kids he has.

2. NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh: Singh came on to the federal scene after winning the NDP leadership race in October. He was the second top trending political figure searched in Canada in 2017. Prior to his win, he was an Ontario MPP. Singh started 2017 with a feature in QP magazine that called him "the Incredibly well-dressed rising star in Canadian politics," and he ended the year on a cross-Canada tour hoping to build NDP support in his new role.

Jagmeet Singh

3. Governor General Julie Payette: Payette started trending in Canada after Trudeau announced he was appointing the former astronaut to the role in July. Google saw a 100-per-cent spike in searches for Julie Payette, spiking between July 9 and July 15. As well, she had smaller spikes between Oct. 1 and Oct. 7 when she was sworn-in.

4. Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante: Plante was elected mayor of Montreal in a huge upset, ousting Denis Coderre. Her November victory was historic, making her the first woman to hold the job. By the morning after her stunning win, Canadians across the country were talking about her ascension.

Valerie Plante elected mayor of Montreal

5. Former B.C. Premier Christy Clark: On the opposite side of the electoral spectrum, Clark was the fifth top trending political figure in Canada in 2017. She resigned as leader of the British Columbia Liberals a month after her government lost a confidence vote after a disappointing showing in the provincial election and an attempt to hold on to power.

Missing from the list for the first time since coming to power? Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. He made the list in both 2015 and 2016.

Frankly, I don't think this is an accident. First his stiff-armed Bernier, and now this.

These are all, in their different ways, fundamentalists and have 'populist' connections to the issues of the day. Trost is a religiously inspired, whereas Leitch's issue is immigration, and Obhrai is market economics. All of these positions are declasse in fashionable circles, where the concern has a focus on long-term consequences of human life for the climate and making sure no form of sexual weirdness lacks its share of dignity.

Our Andrew could do with a little appreciation of the 'populist' side of politics in a supposedly democratic country. That fact is possibly because he was Speaker of the House. He has far shallower roots in the population than any normal cabinet minister would have had.

He may want us to believe he's a suburban dad, but he moves in a world of nannies, where expense accounts and carbon credits cover every practical problem. The Conservative Party is becoming an exclusive little club. Just like it was in Joe Clark days.

I don't believe the challengers to Leitch have anything to do with Scheer himself ?

it simply appears some local people are interested in running for the nomination , its a very conservative riding , whoever wins the cpc nomination is likely to become the next mp , it doesn't really surprise me there is other people interested in the nomination

I had never heard about the challenger to Deepak until now but Calgary is very conservative and whoever wins the nomination is likely to become MP , I think its just a case of someone not wanting to wait and see's it as a possible way to Ottawa ( this mp had also mused about retiring so maybe someone started to prepare a run , thinking he wasn't running again ) although the neighbouring riding of Calgary Skyview is open so they could run there instead of challenging Deepak

in the US it be much more common for incumbent congressmen to face challengers than in Canada , where our political parties often protect all incumbents from such challenges

it appears there is only 6 mp's out of 97 who will have to face a challenger to run in 2019 if they want the nomination ( but I'd suspect there'd be a couple retirements so not all 97 mp's will run in 2019 )

Why not? Scheer can stop this if he wants to. I can't remember the last time a sitting member was challenged for the party's nomination when they sought re-election.

And why wouldn't he stop it? Does he think she'll break ranks and join the Liberals? Trost, too? Is the party's hold on the seat going to be more or less secure as a result of this?

Surely the relationship between a MP and their leader is one of mutual support. Otherwise, if it's all top down, then we are electing people who have no choice but to be obedient to one person. Does that make sense?

The rules very heavily favor the incumbent to a point where many seemingly disagree with the mechanism in which an incumbent MP can avoid an external challenge. For example, If they have 150k in the campaigns account they can shut down a nomination challenge.

Scheer can stop this if he wants to. I can't remember the last time a sitting member was challenged for the party's nomination when they sought re-election.

There are a few prior to nearly every election and that's not just a CPC thing its across all parties, in terms of the most recent examples I can think of within the CPC;

David Tillson was challenged prior to 2015;
The situation with Eve Adams in the Oakville riding prior to 2015
Then you had Rob Anders who was a sitting MP who lost his riding nomination in Calgary Signal Hill and then again in Bow River.

Several GTA Ontario MPs had nomination challenges that went no where prior to 2015,

I don't remember all these cases, but certainly Adams was caught in a redistricting problem, as well as being squeezed out at head office.

Perhaps I have overstated the case, but when contenders for the leadership find themselves facing nomination battles in the next election, you have to wonder.

I seem to recall in 2008 or 2011 all incumbent cpc nominations were protected , think this was cause of the coalition stunt , they were worried opposition might trigger a snap election and mp's wouldn't be nominated or ready to campaign .

so by nominating all incumbents they were ready for an early election

but 2019 is a different election and there is lots of time to prepare and being the opposition is a lot different than government

Andrew Scheer
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer on CTV's Question Period. He says his biggest challenge in the year ahead is becoming known.

Rachel Aiello, Ottawa News Bureau Online Producer

@rachaiello
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Published Sunday, December 24, 2017 7:00AM EST

OTTAWA – Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer says the biggest challenge he foresees in 2018 is raising his public profile.

"It's getting out to more places, and finding a way to get my message out to Canadians, and in a way that resonates with them," Scheer told Evan Solomon, host of CTV’s Question Period when asked what his biggest challenge would be in the new year.

Scheer took the helm of the federal Conservative Party in May. Since then, he has rolled out two television ads: One, taking aim at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s tax reforms, and another of the long-time politician in a plaid short-sleeve button-up introducing himself to Canadians while taking a stroll through the park.

Part of his plan? Beefing up the Tory social media game.

"We learned a lot of things from the last election. You have to do more innovative things on social media, you have to talk to people on the platforms that they’re on. We’re doing more of that. We’ve seen a lot of success and improvement," Scheer said.

In 2017, Canadians wanted to get to know him, or started to wonder who he was, according to Google’s Year in Search roundup. Scheer was the top trending political figure in Canada.

The top trending category looks at the searches that had the highest spike in traffic over a sustained period in 2017, compared to the year before.

Building off that momentum Scheer said to expect to see him getting out there more.

"More events, more ads, more opportunities to give speeches," he said.

This will be done in an effort to counter what Scheer admits is the strong public messaging coming from the Prime Minister’s Office. He said Trudeau is very good at getting images out quickly.

"They’ve got a very good PR shop in the PMO, but I think what Canadians are finding out, is that they’re putting a lot of focus on PR and not enough on policy and actually improving the lives of Canadians," Scheer said.

Conservative leader sees an opening in the Liberal party’s left turn, but says his party is still working on their policy pitch.

With the next federal election two years away, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer reflects on the political challenges ahead during a year-end interview in his Parliament Hill office on Dec. 19, 2017.

By Alex BoutilierOttawa Bureau Reporter

Fri., Dec. 29, 2017

OTTAWA—Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer wants to court Liberal voters disaffected by the governing party’s perceived shift to the political left.

In a year-end interview with the Star last week, Scheer said one of his challenges in 2019 will be to persuade fiscally conservative Liberal voters to “take a look” at the Conservative party.

“The Liberals have moved so far to the left, they’re basically trying to make the NDP irrelevant. And in doing that, it creates a challenge” for the Conservatives, Scheer said in his Centre Block office.

“But it also creates an opportunity. Because I believe there are going to be more and more people that the Liberals leave behind . . . . My challenge is convincing them to take a look at the Conservative party.”

Scheer acknowledged that has not been the traditional path to power for his party. Under Canada’s first-past-the-post electoral system, the Conservatives tend to benefit from strong NDP showings, with left-leaning voters split between Liberal and New Democratic parties.

But the 38-year old Scheer, who came from behind to secure the Conservative leadership last May, said he thinks “historical conventions” don’t necessarily hold in politics anymore.

“I think we’re into an age where politics is much more dynamic, where some of the old brand loyalties where people identify themselves as a Conservative, as a Liberal, as an NDP (are still) there, but I don’t think it’s as prominent as it used to be,” Scheer said.

“And I think anything is possible in 2019.”

Scheer said despite losing two Conservative seats in recent byelections, there are “a lot of reasons for optimism” as his party begins the crucial work of assembling a platform.

The party is still fundraising well, and 14 contenders for this year’s leadership contest grew the party’s membership list to more than 250,000.

But a second-place finish is unlikely to dull the sting of losing two Conservative ridings to Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party. And recent public polling suggests that, despite months of Conservative hammering in the House of Commons, the Liberals remain difficult to beat.

A poll conducted between Dec. 12 and 14 by Forum Research put the two parties neck and neck — the Liberals at 38 per cent, the Conservatives at 39 per cent, with a margin of error of 3 percentage points. But the poll is something of an outlier among other recent national polls, including Nanos Research and Abacus Data, which put the Liberals between eight and 12 points ahead of the Conservatives — largely unchanged from the results of the 2015 election.

Horserace polls two years out from an election may be of questionable value. A lot can and will change between now and the 2019 election. But one finding is consistent among polling companies: people don’t know much about who Andrew Scheer is.

The Forum poll found that while 28 per cent of respondents approve of Scheer, the exact same percentage disapprove of him. But most respondents — 44 per cent — said they “don’t know” if they approve or disapprove of the Conservative leader’s job so far.

So on Dec. 20, Scheer found himself at a legion hall in Manotick, a small, rural community about a half-hour’s drive from Parliament Hill along the Rideau River.

About 100 people — mostly seniors — took time from their pre-holiday errands to hear Scheer’s pitch. The venue almost underscores that pitch: more church basements than arenas, more community centres than international summits.

Scheer acknowledged that he needs to work harder to “introduce” himself to Canadians.

“A big part of (being) leader of the opposition, you’ve got to introduce yourself to people because in the nature of our business, the prime minister does get a lot of extra attention because he holds that post,” Scheer said, calling that “normal.”

Scheer told the crowd his team had been in the midst of deciding which topics they’d push on the 2017 summer barbecue circuit when Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced plans to reform small business taxes.

“And as we were in the process of trying to figure out what we would make the main subject material of our summer tour, the types of things we wanted to get people talking about, the Liberals decided to do that for us,” Scheer said.

Six months into his tenure as Conservative leader that seems to have been Scheer’s approach: defining his party predominantly by what they are not — namely not Justin Trudeau’s Liberals.

Aside from the broad strokes of a standard conservative vision — free markets, free individuals, balanced budgets and smaller government — Scheer doesn’t give the crowd specifics on how he’d actually run the country differently.

Back in his Centre Block office, he told the Star those specifics will largely wait for 2018, as the party looks toward a policy conference in Halifax next August.

“We’re a grassroots party, and our membership does have the say in what our policies are as a party. And it’s the parliamentary team’s job to translate that into specific campaign platform items,” Scheer said.

“We’re going to pivot from Halifax into starting to craft an actual campaign platform and then take some time to communicate it to Canadians.”

When does Mr Scheer give those people a REASON TO VOTE CONSERVATIVE???

Does "going hard" mean the Dad Scheer will actually visit the riding, and show them how toothless he is? What will be the clarion call that rallies les peuples?

Or does it mean one more round of colour-printed brochures? And more TV time?

but in the current reality I don't really know what approach would work ? liberals have a huge majority , most of the media , almost all the provincial governments in eastern Canada and a high profile celebrity leader

Scheer has to hope the political realities of Canada have changed by 2019 , trudeau isn't on the ballot in 2018 but some of his strongest allies are and some of them are looking rather vulnerable .

Wynne in Ontario appears poised to lose the election , unless there is a major upset or shift politically , but that might not help scheer much as often Ontario is the opposite government than Ottawa and wynne's unpopularity is seen as hurting trudeau here

but I think Quebec on the other hand could be a game changer , if the CAQ is actually able to beat the liberals , that would be historic and signal an end to the liberal dominance in quebec , but that election is still months away and outcome uncertain but a CAQ win would drastically change the Ottawa/quebec dynamics

there is also an election in New Brunswick although not as important and liberals still lead in the polls there

but Scheer and Trudeau aren't on the ballot in 2018 , it appears to be a year more focused on our provincial legislatures , Scheer has to hope the political scene has changed by 2019 and less favourable to the liberals

My own assessment: Quebec is where the new seats are for the Conservatives. But the Conservatives are so simple on Quebec that they seem to think they can tick that one off the list if we get a leader with Joe Clark French.

Sorry, but language serves as a trip-wire designed to define the culture. Quebec wants to be led by cultural insiders. So do we Anglos. Conservatives should drop the 'presidential' style of our leader -- which is a command-control hierarchy -- and replace it with something morel collegial.

You have to get Bernier involved. That simple. If you want power, you have to get Bernier involved.

And if you don't want power, this gang will spend the country into penury. They have no integrity. NONE. If we let this happen, in some sense we are at fault too. On pattern, the second and third terms are where the worst damage occurs.

The truly revolutionary step in Anglo Canada would to push back against the gender stupidity going on right now, but there, Conservatives are in such a bubble that they don't even know what is going on. They are afraid to even talk openly about it. They are afraid that any criticism will result in a backlash from women voters.

Conservatives should understand the educational facilities are off the rails. And that most women have everything they want now, and many of them dislike the radical edges of the social justice types. (They have sons as well as daughters, although you'd never know it until now.) The party should find a woman who can take this to the ground ... maybe Kelley Leitch?

All that would be required is to confront the campus fools with common sense, and not be afraid to speak up for men. No attacks on women, just standing up for men when their rights are being abused by institutions.

But I acknowledge that this would require some Jason-Kenney-type dedication and a medium-.term plan of public education and I don't think 'Dad' is up for that. Too hard.

This is my point about Andrew. He really isn't gathering his assets and going for the jugular, starting now. Instead, he is consolidating his control and stifling internal debate. He's going to rely on TV ads. That's my fear.

Last edited by Bugs on Fri Dec 29, 2017 12:47 pm; edited 1 time in total

My own assessment: Quebec is where the new seats are for the Conservatives. I doubt if Conservatives can get more seats in English Canada (proportionately) than Harper did. Ever.

But the Conservatives are so simple on Quebec that they seem to think they can tick that one off the list if we get a leader with Joe Clark French.

Sorry, but language serves as a trip-wire designed to define and protect the culture. Quebec wants to be led by cultural insiders. So do we Anglos. Conservatives should drop the 'presidential' style of our leader -- which is a command-control hierarchy -- and replace it with something more collegial.

You have to get Bernier involved. That simple. If you want power, you have to get Bernier involved.

And if you don't want power, this gang will spend the country into penury. They have no integrity. If we let this happen, in some sense we are at fault too. The second and third terms are where the worst damage occurs, and it's up to us to prevent that from happening.

The truly revolutionary step in Anglo Canada would to push back against the gender stupidity going on right now, but there, Conservatives are intimidated. They don't even know what is going on. They are afraid to even talk openly about it. Conservatives should understand the educational facilities are so far off the rails that it can no longer be hidden. Convincing the Tim Hortons people that their kids should have a choice of which sex they wil be probably isn't that easy.

All that would be required is to confront the campus fools with common sense, and not be afraid to speak up for men. No attacks on women, just standing up for men when their rights are being abused by institutions.

But I acknowledge that this would require some Jason-Kenney-type dedication and a medium-.term plan of public education, and I don't think 'Dad' is up for that. Too hard.

for the conservatives , I'd say Quebec is more of a long term project on the federal level as there is only 2 seats available in 2018 ( Chicoutimi and Outremont ) and they only have a chance in Chicoutimi

as for 2019 , trudeau might still be very popular in quebec , even if the CAQ win provincially , that the cpc realistically might not have a lot of seats available to pick up and have to work hard just to hold the ones they have

but if you look more long term in eastern Canada , the cpc's prospects should start to improve , the east coast isn't going to stay solidly liberal for ever and some of those seats are going to return

I don't think we can expect Scheer to win back everything in 2019 , this is clearly going to be a long term project in my view and take a couple election cycles

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